Done Freaking

OK. You're ready to start finding what you need.

Where to start?

Armed with your Guidebook, the first thing to focus on is finding a good doctor or "primary care physician". Ideally, your doctor will be an HIV or Internal Medicine specialist, or at least will have experience treating HIV+ patients. This alone is not enough, however.
The ideal doctor would be:

• Very knowledgeable and up-to-date on HIV information
• Totally comfortable discussing the intimate details of your life... even if you're not
• Experienced at working with people living with HIV/AIDS
• Experienced at working with people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities
• Able to communicate effectively with you. This means listening, not just talking. This means communicating what needs to be said despite limited time and other limitations.

• Do they provide "wrap-around service?" Places that provide wrap-around service may have a pharmacist, pharmacologist, psychologist, counselor, or other related specialists on staff.
• How does the doctor (and his or her staff) stay up-to-date on new developments in HIV treatment?
• What percentage of the doctor's patients are HIV+?
• How comfortable do I really feel with this doctor, their staff, this facility?

Remember, your relationship with you doctor may turn out to be one of the most important relationships in your life, so choose your doctor carefully. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for finding the "right" doctor, and it may be a long, frustrating process. Very few people are lucky enough to have the "ideal" doctor described above, so don't set your expectations too high.

If you already have a doctor, ask yourself if he or she meets the above criteria. If you don't know, find out. If you don't feel comfortable asking your doctor the above questions, that may be an indication that they're not the best doctor for you. You should feel comfortable asking questions of your doctor.

So now I know what to look for in a doctor. Where do I look to find such a doctor?

Unfortunately, given the way healthcare works in this country, the answer to this question depends on one major factor: your health insurance coverage, or lack of it.

***If you don't have health insurance, see the "Insurance" and/or "Benefits" section of the Guidebook to start. You may be eligible for Medi-Cal or other assistance programs. The first thing to do is to get covered, then proceed to the next step***

The next step is shopping around for the right doctor for you. Start by looking through the Guidebook's section on "Doctors" or "Clinics". Then, start making phone calls. You're probably going to spend a lot of time being put on 'hold', getting redirected, doing paperwork, waiting... and it is easy to get frustrated. Resist that temptation and remind yourself that you will get through this part and you will be taken care of. Find a way to just keep going until you've made some appointments to be seen by a healthcare professional. Then, keep those appointments. Skipping or missing your doctor's appointments is a big no-no. Be sure to cancel appointments if you're not able to make them.

Now that you're dealing with the medical side of things, perhaps you have some concerns related to telling people about your new HIV status. Who to tell, how, and when are important questions. Disclosure assistance is a free, voluntary and confidential service that can help HIV+ individuals to inform partners of their status. You can access this service at The Center through the Positive Action Program (see “Contact Us Section”) or at the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency. You can call them at (619) 293-4755.

You may be starting to think about HIV medications. Perhaps your doctor has talked to you about them- maybe not. You probably have all kinds of questions. Click here to see a list of websites which have tons of information related to HIV medications. Talk to your doctor.